Sri Vijaya Puram | March 11, 2026
A team of journalists from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands visited the Chennai headquarters of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan on Monday as part of a media tour organised by the Press Information Bureau.
During the visit, the media delegation interacted with senior officials of the public broadcasting institutions and received a detailed briefing on their functioning, programming structure, and the role of public broadcasters in disseminating information to the public.
At the Doordarshan Kendra Chennai, the visiting journalists were addressed by Jaya Singh, Deputy Director, who explained the operations of the television network. He informed that the channel broadcasts round-the-clock, offering a mix of news, educational programmes, entertainment content and current affairs discussions.
Singh said the channel regularly airs debate programmes on political, scientific and social issues, along with question-and-answer sessions related to government schemes, health awareness and national integration. Highlighting the technical infrastructure, he noted that Doordarshan maintains a dedicated engineering team and satellite bandwidth to ensure uninterrupted broadcasting services.
Sharing his experience of working in the Islands during 2014–2015, Singh observed that while All India Radio Port Blair has basic infrastructure, the Doordarshan Kendra in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands requires further strengthening, including the establishment of a regional news unit.
He pointed out that due to the vast geographical spread of the archipelago, newspapers often do not reach many remote islands. In such circumstances, strengthening public broadcasting networks would help ensure that news, information and current affairs programmes reach people in every corner of the Islands.
The journalists also visited the facilities of All India Radio Chennai, where Chidambaramnathan, Joint Director (News), briefed them on the functioning and significance of radio broadcasting.
He explained that AIR broadcasts national and regional news bulletins in the morning and evening, while afternoon bulletins include national news along with regional updates sourced from All India Radio Tiruchirappalli.
In addition to regular bulletins, the network also airs five-minute news headlines at regular intervals.
Chidambaramnathan further informed that AIR operates three FM channels and one Medium Wave channel catering to different segments of listeners. Programmes are broadcast through channels such as Rainbow FM and FM Gold, which also carry news updates.
He added that AIR maintains a network of 38 part-time correspondents across Tamil Nadu who periodically report on district-level developments. Special programmes are also aired during legislative assembly sessions, including a 10-minute review segment, while the “Spotlight” programme at 8 pm presents in-depth coverage and analysis of major public issues.
Officials emphasised that the core objective of public broadcasting through AIR and Doordarshan remains to inform, educate and entertain the public, while ensuring credible and accessible information reaches all sections of society.
